SongDaJiang

Hey Gang, Long time no post. My wife arrived last October and we have had a whirlwind of activity since. The good news is that we are expecting our first baby in July 2007 (+/-). My question is "how do we get Mom here for a visit to help with the baby?" Is it all a China thing or do I have to file some papers from this side? Thanks for all the knowledge in advance!

Greetings All, My wife made it fine to LA on October 12, our 19 month anniversary. We spent a lovely 4 days and saw Universal Studios and her Aunt that lives in LA Chinatown. We arrived in our new home in Oklahoma City on Monday the 17th and have now begun settling in and getting back to work. Unfortunately two of our friends taking the K3 (one with a K4) were both denied last week due to lack of evidence of the relationships. I know my wife and I went a slightly different route with a CR1 by marrying in China first, but we also have bags and bags of emails, call lists, photos, video CD's of our reception, newspaper headlines, and whatever else we could think of (there may have been some finger nail clippings in there somewhere). I just want to recommend to everyone the importance of accurate paperwork and a lot of relationship support. Good luck to everyone and our friends in the appeal process.

YES! I callled my wife at 0100 CST and she has passed her CR! interview! She said the interviewer was a middle aged white man with glasses. He asked "How did we meet?" "How many times has your spouse been to China?" "Have you ever beeen to America?" My wife then began to show the VO the pictures she had brought as part of our 45 pounds of evidence. The VO told her to stop and that was enough! She will pick up the VISA at teh post ofice Saturday morning (China Time)! After a year and one half, finally she will be on her way! I have already bought her ticket from China to the US and mailed to her. It is just a matter of time now!

It has been a long and grueling 18 months for us, but she is finally in GZ. She arrived Saturday (before anything for 9-11) and got a hotel room close to the conculate. Monday she got her physical exams and 3 innoculation shots (about 1300 RMB total). Wednesday she will pick up the reports from the hospital and her CR1 interview is scheduled on Thursday. Here I am at 430 CST not being able to sleep as the time approaches! I called her and she is in the hotel watching television relaxing! I am confident our paperwork is fine and she will do fine in the interview, but I sure will be glad when its Friday and she has her VISA! Good luck to everyone and be patient!

Finally! The last we had heard was on June 25, GZ called and told my wife they were switching here status from a K3 to CR1 as they had finally received teh paperwork from NH. Then silence... We did a weekly email to GZ and I started daily calls to DOS about two weeks ago. I had thought this would be a quiet week as GZ moved to new offices so I told lao po we would start the barrage again this Friday. Instead, Sunday nigth at 7pm (Leshan Time) she got the P4 from GZ via EMS! We are set for the interview on September 15! I know it is still 45 days away, but it is a lot closer now that we know! Good luck to everyone on your dates!

NVC say our case is COMPLETE! I suspect this means they are now going to send the approved files to GZ and lao po will get her P4 from there!

I sent back my I-864 (AOS) papers in February but did not see a way of tracing whether r not they have been apporved. Any ideas? Thanks.

Anything for those of us waiting on CR1's? NVC registed the receipt of my P3 on April 15th and I am hoping my lao po gets her P4 next month from GZ. But NVC is supposed to approve the background first then send everything to GZ (customs, etc.) before they EMS her P4. Any kind of timeline for us? Thanks

As far as being legally married in China: Yes, it is a government procedure versus a simple cutomary ceremony. Lucy and I were married at the Chengdu Marriage Office. I had to show a 'letter of single status' notarized by city, county, state of Oklahoma and then the Chinese consulate form Houston had to notarize it. My wife had to present some papers and family history. They put our name in a database, took our pictures, and issued us each a 'red book.' This book has both of our pictures and names written in English and Chinese. The book represents the marriage certificate like ou would get in the US. (Very important and do not lose!) The US and China both recognize marriages from both countries as binding - so no polygamy between them. Despite all these formalities, for the past year all the papers I have had to file locally (health insurance, loan papers, house deeds) have declared me single until she has an official SSN and is recognized by the US.

Hang in there. Last month I was feeling really out of focus because of the incredible wait times. I just had to remind myself who I was waiting for. When that NVC automated message finally said something different on April 4, I was re-energized again!

Good luck on your journey. If you were like us, we have had a lot of time to prepare. The important step is to decided what your first step is and break it doen form there. Currently we are still waiting for the DS230 part I for the CR-1 route. Good Luck!

Congrats!

Let me preface by saying, first, i am no lawyer and that ultimately the decision you make is yours... 1) If you list your mother as part of your household, you also need to add her income (this solves both problems); however, 2) You should treat your mother as a landlord (despite the relation) and continue filing in that since. As long you are honest and are prepared to defend yourself as such, I would not worry about this and just file this according to what the immigration lawyers have said - after all, they are paid professionals and feel lucky they have not sent you the bill to prove it.

We are

The 'Agent of Choice' gets the P3 for CR-1 (so I Understand). I am expecting this packet end of this month.